Ebbe was then asked if users of Sansar would have the option to chose their own names for their avatars, or would they be having to use real-life identities. Ebbe answered he was leaning to the latter, "I think what's best for Sansar is real names. ... anonymous identities makes things confusing."

I missed this press appearance, so it's possible that SL blogger Bixyl Shuftan misheard Ebbe on this point; I'm double-checking with Linden Lab now. But if that's accurate -- still a big if -- that's a pretty big potential showstopper:

Second Life has operated on pseudonymous avatar identities since inception, with the expectation that real and virtual identities should be kept separate by default-- so that would be a major deal breaker for SLers potentially interested in using Sansar. For that matter, I can't think of any major MMO or virtual world based around real life usernames, so this would be unprecedented. Even more concerning, virtual world-based stalking and harassment, especially of women, is a major, disturbing, ongoing problem. It's already a huge issue in Second Life where real and avatar names are generally kept separate.

Again, maybe this was a telephone game problem. Checking with the company, stay tuned.

Update, 6/23: Via Roblem, Modem World has audio and transcript from the interview, which confirms the initial report, but full context clarifies that this real name policy is still being decided:

Second Life is on, I would say, the far spectrum of the anonymity side; and on the other side you have what we call real names, real identities, like probably the most successful real system on planet Earth is Facebook.

And there’s a reason why they’ve been extremely successful with that; and there’s probably a reason why 100% anonymous networks like Twitter and Second Life run into some really interesting challenges. And there are pros and cons; and we’re trying to think of ways of potentially mixing these models, but we have not made final decisions yet.

I have a preference, some other team players have slightly different preferences, so we’ll see where it ends up. But I think what would be best for Sansar would be real names, and then the ability to have personas underneath that.

So I could go into a role-playing, or into an experience as an anonymous user in that context. But to the platform, I am not anonymous. And so, without making that too complicated and confusing, is that the right answer? We’ll see. But I think to, it would certainly help with griefing and other things. And it also supports a lot of interesting use-cases where anonymity is actually just really confusing, and actually gets in the way.

I was having to deal with a few IMs during parts of Ebbe's interview by Jo Yardley, but yes, I clearly heard those lines I quoted here. As to why they're leaning to this move, that's something only the Lab can answer.

Nonsense, I was there and Ebbe didn't say anything about forcing people to use their real name. End of story.Just like now in SL, people CAN use their real name if they want and that's what he said. Case closed.

No one can create a new Second Life but Better,not even linden lab,
Project Sansar & High Fidelity will both be flops in my opinion,use my real life name so some inworld stalker can track me down, in real life, possibly raping me while committing murder on me.

Second Life has a boat load of grievers & stalkers,great going Ebbe if ruining was enough now you want to give perverts access to my family in real life.

I should have known linden lab is being run by a door to door salesman, when not 3 months ago i was kicked out of an official second life event were ebbe had came to talk to residents,kicked out for wearing a fully clothed furry avatar!
by the green lanterns the lindens gave estate powers to at the linden event to pull security!

Nothing shocks me what this man has planned, from forcing people to show real names to letting second life super hero griever groups push & totally embarrass it's customers at community events!.

Here is an actual quote. "but do I want that people in Sansar should be able to walk around anonymously? Absolutely! You can in the physical world. I don’t have to have a name tag on myself and show my ID to every person I approach on the street. not that I’m trying to hide anything, but I also don’t think everybody should know what the hell I’m doing all the time. It’s none of your business; it’s my business."

"Can you imagine your employer or spouse tracing what you are doing online?"

yes i can. i think that would lead to relationships that are honest, and not made up fantasy's where one person says they will only love you alone, then runs around on you using second life as there tool to cheat.

i do not agree with employers having all of your information, and Google using this and other information to track you everywhere you go, online or outside. but yes, i really hope everyone who is in SL is being honest with there real life family's. because right now they are allowed to go rampant, behaving like the worst kind of people and not being responsible to there wife, husband or family. i apologies for my angry response. but it is something i have seen too many times undermine women, children...even men. and relationships as a whole. and just to say, i have no anger towards the poster of that response. but anger towards what is being allowed into peoples relationships to corrupt them.

Going over the transcripts, it seems there was an important line of dialogue that I had missed while taking notes. While I'd like to think one could be excused for assuming the Lab could make this kind of mistake (last year about this time, they ordered all independent currency exchangers shut down), the truth is I goofed, and I apologize for stirring up what turned out to be unneeded worry.

And the supposed benefits of real names, like better behavior because actions have consequences, are pretty much shown up as balderdash by the many many sites that exist just to make fun of people behaving badly on Facebook.

And they have been forced to back down from enforcing real names in a number of cases, including mental health professionals who can't use their real names on social media and, drag performers who need to use their stage names for safety's sake, and other edge cases even they have been forced to admit are legitimate.

Google started out copying Facebook, because they thought Facebook's success was due to their broken name policy, and had to comprehensively reverse their policy because it caused too much disruption.

Honestly, Facebook's success is despite their real-sounding-name policy, not because of it.

The fake name culture in Second Life has been very detrimental to establishing credibility of the platform for a number of professional and business uses and has give rise to the seedy adult culture in SL that has further eroded confidence and limited investment from those businesses, educational institutions and individuals who don't care about or are able to insulate themselves from the porn industry/culture in SL.

Absolutely every negative experience and problem that I have experienced in SL has been attributable to the fake name policy and the inability of individuals to be sure of whom they are actually talking to really. These problems have taken many forms from people impersonating others, faking artistic performances, faking association with real organizations, and people disrupting business/professional activities through persistent griefing with the victims unable to protect themselves or take legal action due to the fake identities. I have also

"but do I want that people in Sansar should be able to walk around anonymously? Absolutely! You can in the physical world. I don’t have to have a name tag on myself and show my ID to every person I approach on the street. not that I’m trying to hide anything, but I also don’t think everybody should know what the hell I’m doing all the time. It’s none of your business; it’s my business." - Ebbe Linden

From how I interpret what was said, this doesn't sound all that different from when SL required a credit card to log in. And these "personas" that are mentioned just sound like alts using the same verification system as was used in the early days before anyone could sign up without any link to who they were iRL (though, of course, that was more theory than fact, given those cases where people who thought they were totally anonymous were tracked down in the course of a lawsuit).